Physics Competition

Iowa Physics Competition

The Physics Competition is a series of 5 competitive events for high school (Grades 9-12) students. The 2019 State Physics Competition will be held on Tuesday,April 9, 2019 at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) McLeod Center in Cedar Falls with registration beginning at 8:30 am, events starting at 9:30 am, and the competition ending about noon. The bullets below will be links to the information provided when they become available.

The tentative events (which may change) for the 2019 competition include the following:

Catapult,

Mouse trap car,

Bridge building,

Soda straw arm, and

Challenge problem

Students will use a variety of everyday, inexpensive materials such as mousetraps, compact discs, rubber bands, toothpicks, straws, etc. to build their devices to accomplish specific tasks (catapult, mouse trap car, toothpick bridge, and soda straw arm); and use existing physics laboratory equipment to determine the mass and uncertainty of an unknown object (challenge problem). The bridge tester is the testing device that will be used for the toothpick bridge at the state competition. Click on link for a photograph of the device.

The state competition is hosted by the UNI Physics Department and coordinated by Dr. Larry Escalada (Lawrence.Escalada@uni.edu). Please feel free to contact Larry if you have any questions about the competition. Schools must qualify in their AEA regional competition in order to compete in the State Physics Competition. See the State Competition section of the Rules for details on the school team and event team regional winners who are eligible to compete in the State Competition. If there is no regional competition in your AEA, contact your AEA science consultant to let him/her know that you are interested in participating in the State Competition. You may also want to contact a neighboring AEA to determine if it is possible to compete in their regional competition. Coordinators for regional competitions must provide a list of their teams that qualify for the State Competition no later than Friday, April 5th, 2019 to Larry Escalada. AEA science consultants who do not have regional competitions in their AEA should also provide a list of teams who may participate in the State Competition. All teams that compete in the State Competition must complete and submit the above registration form to Larry Escalada by April 5th. Check payments and cash will be accepted on the day of the competition. See Registration form for details.

UNI/Central Rivers AEA Regional Physics Competition

The 2019 UNI/Central Rivers AEA Regional Physics competition is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 26, 2019 at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) McLeod Center in Cedar Falls with registration beginning at 8:00 am, events starting at 9:00 am, and the competition ending at about noon. The bullets below will be links to the information provided when they become available.

The UNI/Central Rivers AEA Regional Physics Competition is hosted by the UNI Physics Department and coordinated by Dr. Larry Escalada (Lawrence.Escalada@uni.edu) in collaboration with Central Rivers AEA. Please feel free to contact Larry if you have any questions about the UNI/Central Rivers AEA Regional Physics Competition.

All teams that compete in the UNI/Central Rivers AEA Regional Competition must complete and submit the above registration form by Friday, March 22, 2019. Check payments and cash will be accepted on the day of the competition. See registration form for details.